The invention relates to a brush seal, in particular for the sealing of gaps occurring in turbomachines, comprising a plurality of individual fibers, individual wires, or bundles of individual fibers or wires. In addition, the invention relates to a method for producing a brush seal as well as a component comprising at least one brush seal.
Brush seals of the type named above are known in great number and are utilized, for example, in turbomachines, in order to seal the intermediate space between static and rotating components against leakage of the flow medium. There are a number of application cases in which two parts rotating relative to one another, such as, e.g., a stator and a rotor, must be sealed non-hermetically against each other. Such a case of application is, for example, the sealing of an annular gap through which gas flows between the housing and the rotor of a gas turbine for an aircraft. Often brush seals are used for the non-hermetic sealing of intermediate annular spaces between component assemblies rotating relative to one another, since brush seals have the same sealing effect as labyrinth seals, but are lighter in weight and more compact. A corresponding brush seal is described, e.g., in DE 195 27 605 A1. The use of brush seals thus permits optimizing the structural design of rotors and housings. Significant savings in cost and weight are obtained by this reduction in structural space, particularly in engine construction. Methods for producing brush seals are described in DE 36 06 284 C2 and EP 0 211 275 A2. There is the problem, however, that with the use of relatively thin individual fibers, in particular with the use of appropriate plastic fibers, due to the small amount of stiffness in the individual fibers, it is not possible to produce brush seals with longer bristles for bridging larger gaps between the components to be sealed. Known brush seals, particularly having relatively thin bristles, therefore cannot be utilized in regions with high relative movements.